In the Valley of the Shadow - Hardcover

Sanders, Leonard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786703067 ISBN 13: 9780786703067

Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub, 1996

Synopsis

Detective Booker Reeves is called out of retirement by a New York Book editor whose daughter, a child film star, disappears somewhere in Oklahoma, while a serial killer who preys on little girls stalks the land.

About this title

Reviews

A retired Oklahoma state detective, a serial murderer with a passion for snakes and an abducted child film star collide in a high-voltage thriller from suspense and western writer Sanders, whose last book, Esther (1994), was true crime about an Oklahoma murder case. Also at center stage here is high-profile New York book editor Rachel Shelby, who hires Booker Reeves?a Native American who, intriguingly, is in his 60s?to find her missing daughter. As Reeves searches, the Oklahoma setting and its backwoods evil are crisply evoked. The narrative marches along, kicking up plenty of tension. The extended climax, however, which features battles not only against the killer but also against his giant, homicidal snake, slips into strident melodrama. A trim yarn that entertains without going deep, this novel, come summer, will make a nice addition to the beach bag.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The plucky mother of a kidnapped child and a jaded ex-cop join forces to snare a sadistic child killer, in this latest by true- crime writer (Esther, 1994) and historical novelist (Star of Empire, 1992) Sanders. Widowed Manhattanite Rachel Shelby is driving her two children across country when her car is blindsided in a small Oklahoma town. She wakes up in the hospital to discover that her daughter is missing. It seems that Suzanne, a pint-sized 11-year-old and star of a hit movie, disappeared in the chaos surrounding the fiery wreck. Frustrated with the local cops, Rachel hires Booker Reeves, a retired detective, to help find her daughter. Booker's research quickly uncovers a number of cases that seem related--young girls who have been snatched in broad daylight in the region. Several bodies have been discovered: One had an odd bite mark, another was covered in something like saliva. And many more were never found. Cut to Suzanne in her abductor's barn, next to a caged 32-foot python. (Guess where those missing bodies went.) It appears that the snake man, a heroin addict, is aroused by others' fear. Dr. Patricia McMahon, a forensic psychiatrist, is brought into the investigation: She and Booker concoct the scheme of advertising a reward for information on billboards. Rachel mans the phones and establishes contact with the snake man, who indeed takes the bait. Too wily to think that he could get away with the money, he shoots his way into Rachel's hotel room, hoping to find it there. But the money is in a local bank. He kidnaps Rachel and brings her back to the barn for a complicated climatic showdown. Booker, meanwhile, is working the snake angle (thanks to the bite on that earlier victim), but will he show up in time to save Rachel? A grisly but well-oiled page turner, marred by an over-the-top ending. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Sanders (Ester, LJ 6/15/94) has taken the inherently chilling crime of child abduction and added some twists to create a good nail-biter. Suzanne Shelby, a child movie star traveling cross-country with mother Rachel and brother David, is snatched moments after escaping their wrecked car. In Oklahoma, far from their friends on either coast, Rachel hires a local retired police detective, Booker Reeves, to help the police find Suzanne. Booker senses that a serial killer is at work and suggests new tactics, including a million-dollar reward, which ultimately gains the searchers valuable time. Sanders expertly builds the mystery of Suzanne's disappearance, then takes the reader through abductor Harold's debased upbringing to his shadowy existence as the Snake Man. Harold has a particularly horrific modus operandi, and any further details would ruin a good read. Those who like a stiff dose of suspense should try this book. For most popular collections.
Robert C. Moore, DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals, Framingham, Mass
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The perennially popular Sanders' latest is a depressing novel about a child kidnapper and murderer. Harold Appleby's particular signature is disposing of his victims by feeding them to a huge python he calls Sam. By moving around and varying his methods, Harold avoids detection. Then he makes a big mistake: he accidentally kidnaps Suzanne Shelby, America's newest child movie star. Suzanne's mother launches a huge publicity blitz to recover her daughter, and she hires retired detective Booker Reeves to help. Booker sees the pattern in a number of child disappearances, and despite a series of blunders by the police, the FBI, and Reeves himself, Harold is identified and tracked. This is not a particularly well written novel; the descriptions are flat, and the dialogue reads like outtakes from an episode of Dragnet. Still, Sanders has numerous fans who accept his weaknesses, and this time he has hit on a hot topic in child disappearances. Expect some demand, and buy accordingly. George Needham

Edition details

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786703067
• ISBN 13: 9780786703067
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 281